Golden hour

The traditional gift for a 50th anniversary is usually gold, but Halo fabricator John Fredericks Plastics (JFPL) has broken the mould, treating itself to two HGVs and a new machining centre for the half-century celebration.

A lot has changed since 1970 when the company was founded; just last year, Mark Dicconson resumed his position as MD and JFPL returned to exclusive supply of Halo systems, which saw the company’s existing customer base expand significantly.

“For a business to celebrate its 50th birthday is always a special occasion, and to be back here with the team for the event is a proud moment for me,” Mark said.“At the time I commented that I felt JFPL needed to focus more on its core products and hoped to return the brand back to its ‘former glory’. I’ve been back at JFPL for a little more than 12 months now, and since then the steps we’ve taken to try and achieve this have all combined to mean that as we enter our 50th year, we have seen the need to increase the rate of production and add extra vehicles to the fleet to support our ever-growing customer base.

“By autumn 2019, the relaunch of JFPL’s Ultimate Collection, the return to 100% Halo, and the subsequent investment in signage and vehicle livery, to name a few changes, had already resulted in 30 customers coming back to JFPL, a fantastic achievement in itself.

“Since then, to support an ever-growing customer base we have added two new vehicles to our fleet of 11 HGVs and 12 trailers and invested in a Schirmer machine/cutting centre. These are both gifts to ourselves and also our loyal customers, who we believe deserve nothing but the best when it comes to product quality, service and support. We like to think, in our 50th year, we have the golden touch when it comes to all three.”